History of Spokane
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Contents |
[edit] 1870-1890: Creation & Expansion
In 1873 James Glover bought the Spokane Falls area for $1600 from two men who lived there, Seth Scranton and JJ Downing. He built a sawmill, and invited settlers from Oregon to join him, though without much success. In 1877 soldiers that were fighting a war against the Nez Perce Indians spent the winter in Spokane. They built Fort Coeur d’Alene, and Glover sold food and goods to the soldiers. The presence of soldiers encouraged families to move to Spokane, expanding its population.
Growth of Spokane exploded in 1881 when The Northern Pacific Railroad reached the settlement. The small population increased rapidly, streets were built, and the small settlement became a city. Spokane won the county seat from Cheney in 1886 elections.
[edit] The Great Fire
In the summer of 1889, a fire destroyed the city's downtown commercial district. Due to technical problems with a pump station, there was no water pressure in the city when the fire started. When volunteer fire fighters attempted to quench the flames, they found their hoses were unusable. Eventually winds died down and the fire exhausted of its own accord. 27 blocks of Spokane's downtown were destroyed.
[edit] 1890-1980
[edit] Great Northern Railway
While the damage caused by the fire was a devastating blow, Spokane continued to grow. Just three years after the fire, in 1892, the Great Northern railroad reached Spokane and built a rail yard that made Spokane a transportation hub for the area. The first rail yard, built by James J. Hill, was completed in 1902. The clocktower currently in Riverfront Park was built as part of the depot and is one of the biggest in the northwest, with each side measuring 9 feet (2.7 m) across. The clocktower is the only part of the depot that remains to this day.
[edit] 1974 World's Fair
Spokane hosted the environmentally themed Expo '74, becoming the then-smallest city to ever host a World's Fair. This event transformed Spokane's downtown, removing a century of railroad industry that built the city and reinventing the urban core.
Many of the structures built for the World's Fair are still standing and in use. The United States Pavilion now houses an IMAX theater, and the Washington State Pavilion became the Inland Northwest Bank Performing Arts Center. The Expo site itself became the 100-acre (400,000 m²) Riverfront Park, containing, among other features, the U.S. Pavilion, the turn-of-the-20th-century (and meticulously preserved) Looff Carousel, and the Great Northern Railway clock tower, the last remnant of the vast rail depot that was demolished for Expo '74. The U.S. Pavilion and the clock tower are prominently featured in the park's logo.
